The Steel Guitar Forum

I might start playing with a rockabilly/honky tonk rock band, and I think that the steel would fit their sound better with a little distortion. I want something that's fairly smooth sounding to run through my Vibrolux Reverb. I also can't afford anything very expensive. Any suggestions? Thanks

You might try something that boosts the volume a lot and lets the amp do the distortion. An Ibanez CP9 might be something to try. Sometimes you can find them used for pretty reasonable.

Try some of the Tube Screamer-type overdrives. An Ibanez or Maxon will do the job. If you are really looking for great tone have the overdrive modded by Analogman or Keeley.

John,
after serveral other units i now use the Korg Tonworks AX3G.
This cheap plastic pedal has everything I need for a gig.
I've made me some presets with very little overdrive, just enough to make the steel sound fat and agressive. Delay and Tremolo are also welcome for one or two songs per gig. Built in tuner and AA batteries.
IMHO the overdrive sounds only good with a tube amp.

Thomas

If you have a Sam Ash by you, they have a demonstration board set up with many pedals to try. If you don't have a lap to bring, just use one of their electric guitars to hear them. I did that and went with the the Boss BD-2, nice bluesy sound.
Ron

You say you don't want to spend much, do yourself a favor and get a Bad Monkey, by DOD. The do the overdrive thing really well and they are dirt cheap at about $50.

Ibanez TS9, it's perfect to my taste, the left button will let you set the distortion level to whatever you want.
Bernard

I play guitar and lap steel through my Vibrolux. I love the combination.
when I want a bit of dirt I step on my Tubescreamer.
I can dial in a little for that sweet crunchy amp tone from old SUN records
or dial in a long gravelly growl that sustains forever if I ever want to channel a grunge boy.

+1 for the Digitech Bad Monkey, if you're on a budget. The Nobels ODR-1 would be another great choice.
My favorite is the Award Session JD10 (was sold as Morley JD10 for a while in the US), sounds just like a real tube amp.

Another great stompbox is the Maxon DS II. I use it all the time for everything from Blues to Rock and it has a very sweet sound.

MIke

Chad Matthews pedals and mods are excellent

Thanks for all the advice, everbody. I went to Guitar Center today, tried a few pedals, and got the Bad Monkey for $40. I don't think that anyone in there had ever seen anything like my 40's Gibson 7 string.

"Dood....you need a setup. That action's way too high, dood."

Give a review when you've gotten some time in with the pedal.

If you can get hold of an old `Bosstone`, you're in there.

Arch.

Digitech Bad Monkey has been getting favorable reviews. It was a little too smooth for me, but i liked (and bought) the Screamin' Blues, which is another Digitech pedal that was developed the same time as the Monkey. Try them both. They're at Guitar Center.

I also agree about the JD-10 being a great box. It is a larger thing to carry around though.

Shop around for a low wattage tube amp(vintage) and crank it up, that might be the sound your looking for.